Since I rarely make a quilt from a pattern, I have to figure out things for myself. The blocks for my HSTeria quilt can be assembled either in rows …

Or in quads…

and I tried both ways to figure out which was easier from an assembly and pressing standpoint and am assembling the block in quadrants. My fabric placement is a little more random since I’m sewing 4 HST’s together and just making sure that the bottom right one is different in each of the 4 quads (that’s where the 4 browns will come together).

I’m making good progress!

On a side note, I bought a new laptop the other day. While I use my iPad most frequently there are still some things I need a computer for and I have to say I’m loving the combination of keyboard and touch screen on the Lenovo computer. I’m so used to touching the screen on the iPad to choose an item or to scroll that’s its cool to be able to use those same actions on the laptop rather than always having to use the keyboard. I will admit that Window’s 8 has a bit of a learning curve … it’s very different from previous versions and I’m having to hunt around to figure out how to do things I’ve done for years without any thought at all.

Gardening isn’t my thing but I love having a plant on my deck. In Minneapolis we had full sun all day long and geraniums were the only flowers that would tolerate it along with my over and under watering.

I was thinking about trying hibiscus here on the deck in FL but Keith voted for bougainvillea. It’s supposed to be a hardy plant so here’s hoping I don’t kill it!

Since I finished the RWB HeartStrings top, I got to pull out a new project this morning … Vicki’s HSTeria sew along is finished but I’d just barely started mine when I had to pack everything for the move.

I’m taking this move as an opportunity to slow down so you will see a much less frantic pace from me. The Minneapolis years got increasing busy with HeartStrings, traveling, volunteering with the library and Habitat and I felt like I was always running to catch up.

I’ll still be working with HeartStrings and traveling — in fact, I’m traveling to Lincoln in August and Maine in September for HeartStrings events but having my longarm in GA will force me (in a good way) to slow down in my quilting. I’m anxious to spend more time piecing that I’ve been able to do in the last 7+ years.

I’ll also be doing more walking to prepare for the half marathons in November and March – I don’t plan to run them, but having a training goal will hopefully keep me moving on a week to week basis. We’ll continue to travel and I plan on lots of down time, sitting by the pool and reading and finally my library time will be spent getting back to work on my family genealogy rather than volunteering.

I’m assembling my first set of RWB blocks and didn’t take my own advice at first. I usually recommend using a walking foot to assemble these because of the extra layer from the muslin foundation.

I couldn’t easily find the walking foot so I started assembling them without and even though I pinned the blocks … It was hard to get them lined up exactly because the top block was being pushed down slightly.

While I’m not a perfectionist and don’t intend to take this out, it bothered me just enough that I went hunting through the bins for my walking foot.

With the top and bottom feeding evenly using the walking foot … It’s much easier to get the seams lined up.

I started the 2nd set of HeartStrings blocks from 2.5 inch strips and a set of fat quarters and now I have leftover fabric. It’s not unusual at all for me to make a quilt and then piece a leftover quilt and sometimes I even like the leftover quilt best.

I’m thinking of making this one from the RWB leftovers. I’d order a framing fabric and use the rest of the fat quarters.

It’s been 12+ years since Keith has worked out of the house … Now, when he’s not traveling he’ll be working from the apartment. Today he was on a conference call in the living area and I was sewing in the back bedroom … with my music on to drown him out. I realized I could use the small rotating mat on the ironing board so I didn’t have to go into the kitchen to trim my blocks. The second set of blocks is done so now I just have to assemble both tops but tomorrow is a Spa day!